Sinner
by VanityWantsYou
Summary: This war will never end... [SasuNaru] [Samurai era]


**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto... :cries:**

**Ok everyone! I know you all want the new chap of Silent Noise, but this idea hit me last night right after I finished the new chap of Reconnection, and I soooo wanted to type it up... because it seemed romantic and sad... which you all know, those two things, I ADORE them in stories **

**Review Reconnection! Yes, there's a bit of SaiNaruness, but the pairing will always be SasuNaru! I feel unloved... and sad that no one's reviewing :cries: I mean... there's 67 reviews, but that's nothing compared to how much I get for Silent Noise... and what I got for Dotless Dice :pout: Don't you all love me?**

**Characters probably seem OOC because, really people... the plot is dealing with a war. Would you see someone with an attitude like Naruto's during a war? I think not. AND, finally, I have made up the names of the areas in this Japan. Looking up all that stuff on wikipedia'd give me a head ache :nervous laugh:**

Sakura blossoms fluttered into the rocky creak that flowed through the forest, the sparkling water reflecting the face of a young boy with golden hair and eyes the color of the summer sky. His voice echoed throughout the bamboo groves, sending birds into the sky, all of them twittering beautifully.

"Look, the air around him," the young man sang, his voice as clear as the rushing water, "an aura surround the heir apparent. He might be a peasant, but shine like grand royalty..."

"Naruto-sama," a gruff voice called from a few feet back. It was a samurai, his black hair tied back, a sword sheathed at his side, "Lord Kyuubi does not want you to stray too far from the castle."

"I won't go any further," the striking blond said, his frame covered with a silk kimono the color of the purest snow. He bent down smoothly and tucked a stray strand of hair behind his ear, his gaze on the sakura petals flowing down the stream, _Winter is approaching..._ he dipped his hand into the water and plucked a soft petal from its fate of flowing into the salty ocean miles away.

"But we should head back. This is a time of war, it's not safe to be out this far. One samurai like me would not be able to protect you if we were ambushed by Zainin(1)."

Naruto sighed, looking at his reflection sadly, _I want this war to end..._ he stood up slowly and turned, giving the samurai a soft and empty smile, "Hai..."

_Months have passed, blood has been shed on both sides... yet no one has won this war. It seems as if it will last through winter and spring... The blood will taint the snow... and the blooming flowers that are a symbol of new life._

They walked through the forest of bamboo stalks, exotic birds planted upon snapped ones, and the chirping of crickets mixed with the rushing waterfalls made the walk back to the castle relaxing. The sun shone through the high stalks, it's beams glittering the petal-covered path.

"Don't look so sad, Naruto-sama, the war will end soon and you'll be able to visit the stream whenever you please," the older samurai said curtly, his hand on his sword's handle.

"This war will never end..."

"Naruto-sama!" another voice called out. It was one of the serving women from the kitchens, "Naruto-sama, there's been a sighting of Zainin in the rice fields by Kirisage! You need to go into hiding!" she ran to them, a quilt in her hands.

"Zainin? How many?" the samurai asked, his eyes cold.

"About thirty, sir," she answered, placing the blanket around Naruto, her smile kind, "now, Naruto-sama, listen to me. Go into the rock garden and you'll see two of the other servers, alright? They'll take you somewhere safe," she pushed the boy forward, not missing the look of worry cross his lovely face, "don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Just stay safe."

Naruto smiled to her and ran off, his sandals clacking against the walking stones as he tried to reach the rock garden's pathway, _I knew the Zainin would come eventually... _he covered his face with the quilt as well and bit his bottom lip, _Otosan is weak... he's vulnerable to their attacks..._ he stopped running, small pebbles being tossed forward by the sudden movement, _I can't let them get to him._

Changing course, he made his way through the tall bamboo stalks, the sight of rice fields coming into view. He was close to the front of the castle, and soon, he would be close to the Zainin. His life could end in a few moments, but he could care less. The life of his father was more important than his own. If his father died, the unsoiled lands they lived on would be taken by their opposing warlord, Shukaku. But if Naruto lost his life, there would be no change in the outcome of the war.

He stumbled out of the green forest and before he could even get past the patch of lilacs, he was thrown harshly to the ground, his quilt coming undone from around his slim frame and landing atop of him as he fell into the grass.

"Young maiden, where is your lord?" a deep, penetrating voice asked.

_Y-Young maiden...? _Naruto was too scared to even move, but he managed to push himself up and slowly pull the blanket down off of his head, showing the man in front of him cerulean eyes filled with fear.

It was a samurai. He didn't wear his helmet, but he wore his mempo and the rest of his dark red armor, his sword raised, ready to slaughter.

"A man?"

Naruto frowned, "Of course I'm a man, you filthy Zainin!" he spat, pushing himself up. He was surprised that the samurai did not strike. A crude remark such as that would usually send their speaker straight to a bloody death.

"Hn, and a dobe..." the samurai stepped forward, his face hidden behind his mempo, "tell me, where is your lord? I have no time to waste."

"Like I would tell you! You will **not** win over my Otosan's land!" Naruto hissed, not noticing his mistake.

"Your father's land you say? Then you must be his son, Naruto, am I correct?" you could practically see the smirk on the man's face, "what luck. I can kill the lord **and** the heir."

Naruto's eyes widened and he stepped back, turning to rush back into the forest, but a quick attack from the samurai sent him tumbling down the steep hill, blood sticking to the grass as he rolled, his body finally falling in the rain-filled trench below.

He coughed, but couldn't move, his bleeding body sinking to the bottom of the dirty trench, his lungs filling with water as he tried to breath, _Otosan... _he managed to flail and surface for air, but only long enough for him to cough out all of the water and suck in two breaths of oxygen. He saw the samurai speed down the hill and come to a stop in front of him.

"You won't last another five minutes, so quit flailing around. It would be better to die quickly."

"O-Otosan..." Naruto weezed, coughing more. He watched the man scoff at him and run away toward the castle, followed by a couple more Zainin who made it past the warriors of Kyuubi's castle.

His body once again submerged under the water and everything went black.

xXxXx

"Naruto-sama? Thank goodness, you're alive!"

"My son, why did you not go to the rock garden like you were asked to do? You could have died," a smooth, yet weak, voice asked from the other side of the room.

Naruto's blury vision locked onto his father, the man leaning against the far wall, his silky red hair tumbling over his shoulders, his golden eyes slanted, "Otosan... you're alright..."

"Of course he is," one of the maidens said hotly, "he **is** Lord Kyuubi after all! Even in such a weak state, he was able to defeat all of the Zainin that attacked the castle!"

"Then there was no need for me--"

"You should have known that before, my son. You were almost killed!"

Naruto sat up weakly, his vision swimming and his torso wrapped in bandages, "I'm sorry... I was just afraid... I didn't want to lose you..." he looked down at his hands in shame, _I should have trust in the strength of my own Otosan... even if he is ill. He became the lord for a reason._

"Just be careful next time. I do not want to lose my son," Kyuubi smiled weakly and coughed, sweat beads running down the side of his face.

"Hai," Naruto smiled, "and what... what happened to that samurai that attacked me? He had no kabuto, but he had his mempo..."

"He is dead," the lord answered firmly, his voice becoming raspy.

"I see..."

"But there is no doubt that more Zainin will come, so we will move out. We'll head to the mountains, where the pandas graze."

xXxXx

Naruto sat by the shedding trees along a small creek, his eyes closed as he hummed a soft tune. Two of the server women from before, including the woman who had given Naruto the quilt, stood not too far away.

"He to the people and land, loyalty," he began singing, the same song from before, "we witness above all to hear this, sea sickness in the ocean of wickedness. Set sail to the sun set no second guessing. Far east style with the spirit of wild west..."

"Young lord, stop with that nonsense of a song," one of the women said scornfully, "that's a song to sing when death is near. We need no such bad luck."

Naruto ignored her, "The 'quote-unquote' code stands the test of time for the chosen ones to find the best of..." he breathed in, "noble minds that ever graced the face of a hemisphere with no fear, fly over..."

"Young lord!" the woman hollered.

"He's not causing any harm," the other woman smiled and placed a hand on her friend's shoulder, "and there's no such thing as bad luck."

Naruto sighed and looked down, still focused on his reflection, as if waiting for it to disappear, "Ikue, Sakurako, I'm going back to see Otosan," he stood and walked past them.

They bowed to him and let him leave, knowing that their sleeping grounds were only twenty feet away, but they didn't see Naruto slip into the forest.

The blond smiled and looked up at the colorful birds flying about, all of them twittering and fluttering in circles around each other, "I want to be carefree, just like those canaries..." he heard rushing water and knew immediately that there was a waterfall nearby.

Stumbling over a large mushroom, Naruto fell onto the stones and pebbles that were damp from the mist of the waterfall. He winced and sat up, but his frown turned into a smile as he saw a rainbow over the falling water, "Gorgeous..." he stood and brushed himself off, running over to the water and laughing as the mist hit him and soaked his body, _Only the sound of the river and rushing water can take my mind away from the war..._

But he turned around quickly when he heard something scraping against the stones behind him. There, lying by the bushes, was the body of a samurai, his broken mempo under a limp hand.

"A Zainin..." Naruto stepped forward cautiously, bending down and reaching a hand out to touch damp, raven hair, _Is he dead? _ he jerked away when the body moved slightly. After a few moments without the figure moving again, Naruto rolled him over and sucked in a breath at what could possibly be the most beautiful face he had ever seen.

Thick lashes caressed pale cheeks and rosy red lips were opened slightly, almost enticingly. Also, the man had beautiful raven hair that stuck to his well-defined cheeks from the dampness of the misty atmosphere.

Two black orbs were revealed as eyes slowly cracked open.

A frown.

"Dobe..." the man grumbled weakly, "I never thought I'd see you again... I thought I disposed of you."

"It seems as if you thought wrong."

"Hn..."

"But even though you tried to kill me... I can't leave you like this," Naruto lifted the samurai up and carried him to the rather large cave that was behind the rushing waterfall, "will you be alright staying behind here?"

"Why don't you just let me die? A samurai who doesn't die from battle loses his honor..."

"That's stupid," Naruto scoffed, "now, I'll be right back with some food. You can get your water from the waterfall," he went back out, a small smile on his face.

xXxXx

"So your name is Sasuke?" he asked while feeding the injured raven, "why haven't any of the other Zainin come looking for you?"

"Once I'm injured, I'm considered dead. No one will look for me, I'll have to go to them... and why are you being so nice to me? Once I'm healed, I'm going to kill you," Sasuke growled.

Naruto laughed softly, "Death isn't so scary anymore. I've realized that I'll die during this war sooner or later, so dying early's not that frightening. Now that we're in the mountains and winter's approaching... we'll eventaully die of hunger... probably even my Otosan," he sighed, "so I don't mind taking care of you. It will take my mind off of those kinds of things."

"Hn," Sasuke snorted, taking another bite of the fish Naruto fed him.

"Teme," Naruto laughed again, actually enjoying the company of the other man.

xXxXx

A month later

"Naruto-sama, where are you going with that bundle of food?" Ikue asked as she hung up some clothes to dry, "you've been getting extra dinner lately and then sneaking off into the woods like some secretive child," she laughed sweetly, "taking food to a lover?" she teased.

The blond blushed hotly, "L-Lover? Hardly, Ikue. I just like to eat by the waterfall."

"Ah, then I shall join you in a bit," she smiled.

"Alright," Naruto went into the lush forest, quickly going behind the waterfall, but he was surprised to see that Sasuke was gone, not one single trace of the samurai left behind, "Sasuke...?" his arms lowered and the bag of food fell onto the stone floor.

His blue eyes looked down at the spot where Sasuke would always be lying and he sighed sadly, _He was completely healed... I should've expected him to leave... _he bent down to pick up the fallen food and he turned around, shocked to see Sasuke standing there with his clean samurai armor.

"Thought I left?"

"Well, you weren't here..." Naruto mumbled, blushing lightly. He would admit that he felt something toward the raven... but it wasn't right to fall in love with someone like a Zainin. They were sinners... but... but Naruto believed Sasuke was different. And his father once told him that titles didn't matter when one was in love.

"I was getting my armor... but I **am** leaving. I'm in perfect condition to go back to my lands," Sasuke was about to put on his mempo, but when he saw the sad look on Naruto's face, he stopped, "don't make such a mournful face. It's not like I'm dead, Dobe."

"I know, but..." Naruto blinked back the rising tears and tried to smile, "nevermind... just be careful. The slopes are wet from the rainfall last night," he blinked when a hand was placed on his cheek.

"I like you more when you're happy," Sasuke moved forward and placed a soft kiss on Naruto's lips, pulling back after a few seconds and putting his mempo over his face.

Naruto blushed, but smiled softly.

"The next time we see each other... might be the last," Sasuke went past the blond and trudged through the forest, cutting down green stalks with his sword.

_He kissed me... I-I want to be with him... but I can't... we're so far apart..._

xXxXx

Kyuubi and the small group he was surrounded with in the mountains were seated in a dojo type of room, another man with dark brown hair sitting across from them, along with a young teen with red hair and aqua eyes, a woman with blonde hair, a teen with purple markings on his face, and three samurai in the far corner, all of them only wearing their mempo. Even though their faces were hidden, Naruto knew the one in the center was Sasuke. The gorgeous raven hair gave him away.

"You want to make a deal?" Kyuubi asked suspiciously.

"A peace treaty," the other lord, Shukaku, corrected, "to end the war. I find the fighting boring, don't you agree? We're getting nowhere. So I suggest... a marriage between your darling Naruto and my youngest son, Gaara."

Naruto's eyes widened and in the far corner, Sasuke's body stiffened.

Kyuubi glared, "What will you gain from this?"

"Hah, always the suspicious one, Kyuubi," Shukaku chuckled darkly, "and I... no, **we** will gain a stronger power. An alliance between us will gaurentee victory if the other nations wish to go against us. Papers do no good in this era... so instead, there will be a joining of families."

Kyuubi thought about it, glancing over to his son.

_This is a way to end it... all of the death and suffering... _"I-I'll do it," Naruto said shakily, _Even though I want to be with Sasuke... this secures everyone happiness and safety._

"Are you sure?" his father asked, his brows furrowed.

"I-I'm... I'm sure."

xXxXx

Naruto sat outside of Shukaku's castle, his body covered with another white kimono. He stared up at the stars and smiled when a few flakes of snow fell from the sky.

"Dobe, shouldn't you be with your husband?"

The blond looked up at Sasuke, the teen wearing a yukata similar to his, only it was a dark blue.

"He's with his siblings at the moment... I was instructed to wait out here until he was finished," Naruto lifted his legs up over the edge of the porch and pushed his knees up against his chest, sighing, "I'm happy I was able to stop the war... but I'm sad knowing I'm not able to marry the one I love..."

"Who do you love?"

Naruto smiled to himself and closed his eyes, "You don't need to know, it doesn't matter... I'm getting married to Subaku no Gaara tomorrow evening... Even if I told that person I loved them... it wouldn't matter... n-not one bit..." he bit his bottom lip, a wave of sadness rushing over him.

"It would matter. To that person, it would. Everyone wants to know they're loved..." Sasuke held his hand out and caught a few flakes of snow, his breath coming out in visible huffs.

Naruto laughed and wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his kimono, "Maybe you're right."

"And hopefully... I'm the one you love?" Sasuke smirked.

With a blush on his cheeks, Naruto smiled, "Maybe..."

"Naruto-sama!" Ikue called, "Gaara-sama would like to see you now."

Naruto's smile disappeared and he sighed, "I'm coming..." he got up and went past Sasuke, the both of them staring at each other until Naruto turned the corner and entered Gaara's bedroom.

xXxXx

Sasuke kept a slow pace as he walked down the outside hall. He was wearing a thick kimono jacket over top of his own kimono, and a winter straw hat on his head to keep the snow out of his face when he went out to the fields to train. As he passed Gaara's bedroom, the door slid open and Naruto stepped out, his kimono loose and the collar hanging over his left shoulder, a bruise by his neck. The raven frowned.

"Did something happen?"

Naruto quickly turned around, surprised, "S-Sasuke..."

"You're hurt," the samurai stated.

"W-well, I--"

Obsidian eyes narrowed as he looked down at the torn attire, "He raped you, didn't he?"

"N-no, I was-- I was willing..." Naruto murmered, "he's going to be my husband... why would I not--"

Sasuke shoved Naruto out of the way and went into Gaara's room, lifting the red-head out of his low bed and slamming him into the wall.

"Sasuke!"

"Uchiha-san!" A few samurai came rushing in, pulling the raven away from the dazed heir, "calm down! What's wrong with you?.!"

Naruto stood by the door, his body shaking.

xXxXx

1 year later

Naruto poured Gaara a cup of tea, his wedding band glistening under the little bit of sun that stuck out over the puffs of snow clouds. His smile was strained, but slightly relaxed, though you could tell he didn't like being with the red-head.

"Thank you," Gaara said coldly, taking a sip of the hot tea.

The blond frowned and sat back, looking up at the sky, wishing he was with Sasuke.

Another lord, Nekomata, declared war with both Shukaku and Kyuubi over the problem with their land not having enough meat, which was a product that should've been supplied by Shukaku. So now, all samurai of both allianced lords were out fighting the gorilla style samurai of Nekomata's land. Including Sasuke. Naruto was thankful that the raven hadn't been slaughtered yet...

"Your eyes are distant," Gaara commented, "are you thinking of Uchiha-san?"

Naruto put on a fake smile, "Of course not, Koibito, I think of no one but you."

"Gaara-sama, Naruto-sama, we just received news from our groups in battle... and it seems like we have gained a few deaths. Those of the deceased include Asazaki Noue, Uchiha Sasuke, and Mitaranko Hinoe," one of the servers bowed to them.

Naruto's heart stopped beating, _S-Sasuke... no..._

"Hn, prepare a service for them. It will take place this evening."

"Hai," the woman bowed again and scurried off, her socks shuffling against the smooth floor boards.

Gaara turned to Naruto, his aqua eyes dull, "Do you want to be by your love's side? To see his dead body with your own eyes?"

Naruto's eyes widened and tears slipped down his cheeks as he stood up and ran down the hall, into the training fields, then into the forest. His feet, although barefoot, kept going, even though thorns and sharp rocks were cutting through his skin.

_He can't be dead!_ He reached the river that, if you walked upstream, would lead you to the battlefield where the Nekomata and Zainin samurai were fighting. He tripped and fell into the shallow end of the water, his heart beating fast. He clutched his chest and more tears fell from his blue eyes. He held in his love for so long, so he could prevent another war between his father and Shukaku... but now there was another war going on, so it wouldn't even matter anymore if he broke off the marriage with Gaara... but now Sasuke was gone...

"I-I can't take this anymore..." he cried, but a sudden warmth in the water alerted him and he looked down, his eyes widening as the liquid took on a dark red color.

Blood.

"A-ahhh!.!" he stood up, his kimono soaked red, his skin a tinted pink. Floating in the water were two mempo and and three sword sheaths, one of the sheaths having a very similar design.

_It's Sasuke's..._ He shut his eyes and fell to his knees once again, not caring about the blood, _Sasuke..._

"Sasuke!.!"

**Owari**

**(1)- Zainin is what normal samurai call Shukaku samurai. It basically means Sinner.**

**Mwuahaha, I left it there! I am evil!**

**But please review :smiley face: Onegai?**


End file.
